


The Support Team

by ghostlyhamburger



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Akumatized Main Character(s), Canon-Typical Violence, F/F, F/M, Gen, Miraculous Holder Alya Césaire, Miraculous Holder Chloé Bourgeois, Season/Series 02 Spoilers, Team Bonding
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-27
Updated: 2017-11-12
Packaged: 2018-12-20 15:36:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,259
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11923929
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ghostlyhamburger/pseuds/ghostlyhamburger
Summary: When Chat Noir and Ladybug fall victim to akumas, it's up to the newbies to the team to save them.





	1. Cataclysm

“Ladybug, watch out!”

The heroine ducked as yet _another_ cartoonish bomb came hurtling towards her head. The bombs were just one of Volpina’s illusions, she knew, but they made some very real explosions when they went off. Unfortunately, they weren’t going off anywhere near the akuma. Volpina’s aim was not quite as skilled as her illusions.

Queen Bee did her best to help, but her help was limited to yelling at Ladybug to get out of the way. Only Chat Noir was actually _doing_ anything, expertly dodging both bombs and blasts from the akuma to reach the blackened baseball cap on its head.

“Lucky charm!” It was probably a little early in the fight for Ladybug to use her power, but she was getting _very_ fed up with how it was going and really just wanted it over. She threw up her yo-yo, and it came back down as a large dome, trapping just Ladybug, Chat Noir, and the akuma inside.

Instantly, the tone of the fight changed. Chat was Ladybug’s true partner, and it became easy to finish the fight and win once it was just the two of them, side by side like before. They got so into it that as soon as the fight ended and everything was restored to normal, Ladybug and Chat bumped fists, completely ignoring their new team.

“What the hell was that?” Bee snapped at them. “You used your magic to keep us out of your way?”

“You know I don’t control what comes up,” Ladybug said, exhausted. “You guys are fine, but Chat and I have more practice together, so-”

“So we were just slowing you down,” Volpina huffed. “How are we supposed to work with you if you keep us out of the fight? I know you two patrol without us.”

Chat stepped beside Ladybug and slung his arm over her shoulder. “Come on, guys, we’re not trying to keep you out at all, you know that.”

“Do we?” Bee questioned, raising an eyebrow. “Come on, Volpina. Let’s let the heroes of Paris have their bonding time.”

Volpina and Queen Bee ran away from the original duo, leaving them alone and confused.

“It’s not like we’re _trying_ to do anything,” Ladybug said, a little bit of guilt creeping into her voice. “But they were really getting in the way just now.”

Chat Noir nodded. “And it’s not like the four of us can always agree on a time to patrol. Just makes sense if we stick to what we’re used to.”

“Still, I feel bad,” Ladybug said. “Maybe we could spend some time training them.”

“No one trained us.”

“We don’t know why they were chosen so much later than us.” Ladybug sighed, ignoring the insistent beep from her earrings. “Maybe they were chosen later because they need us to help them.”

“I just wish it could still be the two of us sometimes, you know?” Chat asked.

“Yeah. I don’t want to get rid of them, but…I don’t really want them there for every fight.”

Neither of them noticed a little black butterfly flittering in the sky above them. It darted first towards Chat Noir, then towards Ladybug, as they spoke. Soon it was trying so hard to pull towards both heroes that it split itself in half, creating two smaller butterflies that flew down towards the pair.

Ladybug’s earrings beeped again, the final warning. She didn’t notice, however, as a velvety voice entered her head.

“Miss Fortune, I am Hawkmoth.”

*

Alya had just finished feeding Trixx when she heard the explosion. “What was that?”

Trixx twitched her tail nervously. “I’m not sure, but you need to transform. Something’s wrong.”

Soon, Volpina was leaping across rooftops. Her ears pricked up as she heard a buzzing from not too far away, and she went to meet Queen Bee.

“What’s going on?” Bee asked. “All I know is I was relaxing and then suddenly my kwami went crazy saying we had to get out here right away.”

“I don’t know, but I think we should check out that,” Volpina said, pointing at a column of smoke rising into the sky.

Bee nodded, and raced towards the area. Neither superheroine was expecting what they found.

Chat Noir stood over a pile of burning rubble, his hand glowing with the telltale destruction of his Cataclysm. He looked different, though—his suit had changed to pure snow white, and his eyes had changed from green to purple.

“What’s going on?” Volpina asked, kneeling down at the pile of rubble. “Chat, did you do this? And why do you look like that?”

“I needed to get your attention,” Chat replied. “And distract you.”

“Distract us?” Bee asked. “From wh-”

She didn’t finish her thought as her feet slid out from underneath her, planting her flat on her face.

“Ladybug?” Volpina asked. The girl who stood behind them, her yo-yo wrapped around Bee’s ankles, sported the pigtails and domino mask that Ladybug always wore, but her outfit was entirely different. Gone was the spandex, and in its place was a tight dress, black with harsh red stripes criss-crossing over her torso. It went to her knees, but a slit up to the top of her thigh meant her movement wasn’t at all restricted. Black gloves covered her hands and tall red boots sat on her feet.

“The name is Miss Fortune now.” She wound in the yo-yo, drawing Bee closer. “Chat Blanc and I are here for a little pest control.”

Bee struggled against the string of the yo-yo, grabbing it until she managed to loosen it enough to escape. “What the _hell_ is happening here?”

“I think they’re akumatized,” Volpina said.

“No _shit_ ,” Bee snarled. “Ladybug has better fashion sense then to dress up like a rejected Bond girl on her own.”

“Also, they wouldn’t attack us,” Volpina added. She ducked, as Chat Blanc came running toward her, the power of the cataclysm still active in his hand.

“Speak for yourself! I’ve definitely thought about hitting all of you once or twice.” Bee launched her trompo towards Miss Fortune.

“Bee!”

“ _What?!_ ”

“You can’t attack them!” Volpina cried, as she ducked out of the way of Chat again. “They’re our team!”

Queen Bee rolled her eyes. “They’re trying to _kill_ us!”

“So you’re not as stupid as you act,” Miss Fortune said, dodging Bee’s attack. She ran closer to her target and jumped into a powerful roundhouse kick. Bee ducked, and the kick only grazed her shoulder.

“Why are you doing this?” Volpina asked. “Can’t you just hand your Miraculouses over to Hawkmoth now?”

“We could,” Chat replied, swiping at Volpina’s leg. He missed, and cracked the pavement below them. “We need them to get _you_ out of the way first.”

“Because obviously you’re no match for us without your superpowers,” Bee crowed. She flicked her wrist to return her trompo to her side, and it spun against Miss Fortune’s leg as it obeyed. The akumatized heroine hissed in pain, but then stood up straight and tossed her yo-yo to the side.

“No tricks, then,” she said. “No weapons. I’ll beat you with my bare hands. Chat! You know what to do.”

Chat Blanc gave a nod and tossed away his baton. The cataclysm vanished from his open hand, and he curled it into a fist instead.

Volpina and Bee both hesitated, but put their weapons on the ground before rushing into the fight. The teams were evenly matched—nearly every punch and kick was blocked, and blows that made it through were brushed aside. It could have gone on forever, if it was a fair fight.

Instead, as the two fighting duos neared each other, Miss Fortune turned her attention away from Bee to stick out her leg and trip Volpina, causing the fox to land flat on her back. Chat Blanc planted a foot on her stomach to keep her from moving.

He gave his usual Cheshire grin. “We used to be such good fur-iends, Foxy. I’ll almost miss you.” He bent down and placed his hand on the side of her face.

“Cataclysm.”

Queen Bee jerked her attention to her fallen teammate just in time to hear her piercing scream. Miss Fortune used the distraction to sucker punch her in the jaw, making Bee lose her balance and fall to the ground.

She knelt on the pavement, feeling defeated for just a moment. But then she saw Chat back away from Volpina, and her friend wimpering in pain as she clutched at the fresh burn across her cheek.

Bee stood up, fire flashing in her veins. “I’ll kill you!” she screamed, running towards Chat. But she found her leg caught by Miss Fortune’s yo-yo again, and she was yanked to the ground.

Miss Fortune only laughed as she walked over to Chat. “Come on, Kitty. I think we’ve played with them enough for today.”

“You’re leaving?” Bee grunted, struggling to get to her feet. “I didn’t think you two were quitters.”

Miss Fortune bent down in front of Bee and gently traced the outline of her cheek with one fingertip. “Oh, my little bumblebee, we have so much more in store for you. You’ve lost today, and you will lose to us again, and again, and again.”

 Queen Bee responded by spitting into Miss Fortune’s face. Chat Blanc rushed forward, cataclysm at the ready, but Miss Fortune held up a hand to stop him. “Darling, no need to injure them both today. Let this one keep her pretty face, at least for a little while.”

The cataclysm vanished, and Chat turned to pick up his forgotten baton. He wrapped an arm around Miss Fortune’s waist and carried her as he leapt away.

Bee managed to get to her feet. Her comb began to chirp at her, reminding her that time was almost up. She stepped towards Volpina, but another chirp stopped her. Instead, she ran, her footsteps echoing in the now-quiet street.

Bee ducked into an alley and released her transformation. Chloe caught her tired kwami in her hand and gently stroked the small creature’s forehead before pulling her cell phone out of her pocket.

“I need to report an accident—there’s a girl, she’s been burned badly.”


	2. Discovery

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, recent spoilers have effectively Jossed the entire fic. I'm gonna continue it anyways, for myself if nothing else. Enjoy!

The next week, Paris was quiet. There were no more akuma attacks, and no sightings of any of the heroes.

At first, there was a feeling of peace over the city. There was nothing to worry about, no battles interrupting the every day. But soon, rumors started to fly. Reports flooded the news station about a fight between the heroes themselves that had led to this silence.

The city wasn’t safe now. There just weren’t heroes anymore.

Alya spent most of the week in her bedroom, updating the Ladyblog and telling her followers that she had an “inside source” that assured her the heroes had not abandoned Paris. She obsessively read every comment that claimed they’d seen a white version of Chat Noir somewhere in the city, or Ladybug in a dress.

As she was posting an article about how people really didn’t need to worry, but also needed to tell her if they saw the totally-not-akumatized Ladybug and Chat, there was a knock at her bedroom door.

“Alya?” her mother called. “Your friend Nino’s here to see you. He has your homework for you.”

Alya hastily grabbed a nearby scarf and wrapped it around her head, over the burn mark on her face. “Okay, he can come in.”

Nino opened the bedroom door. “Hey, Alya. How are you feeling?”

“Still pretty awful,” she said. It wasn’t a lie, exactly, but it was easier to let Nino and everyone else think she was just sick.

“Dang, too bad,” he replied, sitting on her bed. He looked like he was going to say more, but instead, he narrowed his eyes at Alya. “What’s with the scarf?”

“I’m trying it out,” she lied. “For my religion.”

“You’re Catholic.”

She frowned. “Okay, promise you won’t say anything?”

Nino nodded, and Alya removed the scarf. He inhaled sharply when he saw her in her burned glory, her skin from forehead to chin mottled in raw shades of brown, her eye swollen shut. “Jesus, what happened?”

“Wrong side of a curling iron,” she said. Another lie. “Maman’s letting me stay home until the eye heals, at least.”

“So, you’re not really sick?” he asked. “I figured you’d just caught the same thing Adrien and Marinette got.”

“They’re sick?”

“You haven’t heard? They’ve been out of school as long as you,” Nino said.

Alya shook her head. “I haven’t actually heard from Marinette lately. I told her I was sick and then I think she replied, but I’ve been really distracted. Have you heard from them at all?”

“No,” he replied. “Complete radio silence. And—you’re planning something now, aren’t you?”

“I just want to see my friend,” Alya said. She reached for the scarf and began wrapping it around her head again. “I’m sure she has homework to do too, right?”

“Yeah, but her parents have been picking it up for her,” Nino said. “You’re planning something.”

Alya turned and looked him dead in the eye. “Marinette doesn’t stop talking for this long unless something’s really wrong. I need to go check on her. Are you coming?”

“Yeah,” he said. “I think her parents would know if something was wrong, but I’ll go with you to make sure you don’t do anything crazy.”

“Whatever, let’s just get going.”

*

Mme Cheng seemed confused when she opened the door. “Alya? Nino? Did you need something?”

“I just wanted to go up to Marinette,” Alya replied.

“Marinette? I thought she was with you. She’s been staying with you, hasn’t she?”

Alya gave a fake smile. “Uh, yeah! I mean, Marinette’s room. She’s busy studying and asked me to pick up some stuff. So, uh, can we come in?”

Mme Cheng nodded, and opened the door for the two. Alya raced up the stairs, Nino close behind.

“Where _is_ Marinette?” Nino wondered.

“Apparently, staying with me,” Alya muttered. “Come on, there’s gotta be some hint in her room about why she’s just vanished.”

The room looked like Marinette had just stepped outside. There was a half-finished sewing project in one corner, and a lamp left on over the sewing machine. On her desk sat a glass with some water left in it, and Marinette’s diary splayed open, the pen still resting on the page.

Alya darted over to the diary while Nino kindly turned off the lamp. She flipped through the pages.

“I don’t think you should be reading that.”

“Nino, my best friend is _missing_. I don’t think she’ll care if I read about her gushing over Adrien looking at her or whatever.” Alya started to read silently.

“Yeah, okay.”

_As if today wasn’t bad enough, there was another akuma attack,_ Alya read. _It wasn’t too bad, but did it have to happen during science class the day I was going to be partnered with Adrien? And we didn’t finish until class was over! I wish Hawkmoth would just stop already._

“You and me both,” Alya mumbled before turning the page.

_I wish I could redesign Ladybug’s outfit. Volpina and Bee have costumes that are just so them, and Chat’s has all those details, but Ladybug is just a spandex jumpsuit with spots. Tikki says it’s difficult to do, though._

Tikki? Another page.

_Tikki says that if I can take down akumas as Ladybug, I can stand up to Chloe. And she’s right, being Ladybug helps, but I can’t have Ladybug’s confidence all the time. It’s exhausting, and it’s not like I can just kick Chloe in the face to get her to stop bothering me. That would be pretty funny, though!_

Alya forgot to breathe. _Being Ladybug helps_ , Marinette had written. _Being Ladybug._

“I need to use the bathroom,” she said suddenly, darting into the small room to the side. Once in there, she opened her outer shirt a bit to let Trixx fly out. “I need to ask you a question.”

“Okay,” Trixx said nervously. “I don’t like being here…”

“It’s never been a problem before, though.”

“It’s never felt so _wrong_ here before, either,” the kwami said. She settled herself into a sitting position on the edge of the sink and wrapped her tail around herself. “What’s your question?”

“Is there a kwami named Tikki?”

Trixx’s ears twitched, and she was quiet before she answered. “Yes. Tikki is Ladybug’s kwami. And I’m sure you’ve found out that something bad has happened to her.”

Alya nodded. “And that means Marinette is Ladybug. How could she not tell me that?”

“Why haven’t you told her your secret?”

There was a sudden knock at the door. “Uh, Alya? Are you okay in there?”

Trixx flew back into Alya’s shirt before the girl opened the door. “Yeah, I’m fine, I just—the burn hurts really bad, you know? And I should get back home.”

“Okay,” Nino said. “I’ll walk you home.”


	3. Chapter 3

It wasn’t too much longer before Alya returned to school. Her eye had healed, but there was still a nasty burn on her cheek that she covered with a scarf.

She was concerned about the lack of akuma activity, but life had to go on. Still, she’d only been in class long enough for Chloe to make fun of her scarf before screams started erupting from the hallway.

Mme Bustier didn’t even blink when students ran out of the classroom this time. It was getting to be normal that about half all students would leave to either hide or take pictures during attacks.

There was a hole in the school where the classroom across the courtyard used to be. Students ran from it, panicked, while Miss Fortune calmly strode through the chaos. She looked around, a displeased expression on her face, but she visibly relaxed when she saw Chat Blanc enter the hallway beside her.

Alya was frozen in the doorway of the classroom. She couldn’t fight Miss Fortune. Not only was she her teammate, she was her _best friend_! Hawkmoth was going to pay for this.

“Move!” a voice shouted behind her. Alya found herself pushed out of the doorway by Chloe, who was storming away from the classroom in a huff. As she stumbled, she found her attention turned to Chat Blanc. The side of her face tingled as a reminder. She could _definitely_ hurt him.

When Volpina finally joined the fight, Queen Bee was holding her own against both the akumatized heroes. “Come on, you did this to lure us out, right?” Bee spat at Miss Fortune. “We’re here! You don’t need to destroy anything else!”

“There’s always a need to destroy,” Miss Fortune responded calmly. “You’re going to lose to us, little miss honeybee. Eventually, you won’t want to fight back anymore.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Bee asked.

“We’ll always protect the people of Paris,” Volpina added as she stepped beside Queen Bee. “No matter who we need to fight.”

Chat Blanc took his place in the standoff beside Miss Fortune. “Then fight, Foxy. It’ll be easier when you’re gone anyways.”

Volpina’s costume ears laid back against her head as a truly feral growl escaped her. Bee stepped forward, her arm out to either hold her friend back or protect her—probably both.

“Shut up,” Bee said. “There’s no point in talking to you, when you’re not _you_. So fight us or leave!”

Chat Blanc raised his hand, cataclysm forming in his palm. Yet he took a step back from the heroes instead of attacking—and placed his hand on the floor below them. The platform rusted and crumbled, sending the heroes and bystanders tumbling down. Miss Fortune dangled above them with her yo-yo, and Chat Blanc dug his staff into the wall to stay up high.

Queen Bee was the first to her feet, and she didn’t wait to attack, launching her trompo at Chat Blanc. She jumped up to his level and grabbed onto the staff still stuck in the wall, using it as leverage.

Chat ducked his head as the spinning top harmlessly glided past him, but was caught by surprise as it rounded back and dug its point into his back. He gritted his teeth and his eyes flashed in anger as he lunged towards Bee.

She dropped down, escaping his touch. “There is _no way_ you’re messing up my face, Chat!”

Volpina watched, half satisfied and half horrified, as red stains bloomed across the Chat Blanc’s white back. He wouldn’t be hurt too badly, but that would slow him down.

She was distracted and didn’t notice as Miss Fortune lowered down beside her. “Looks like the honeybee got one sting in,” Miss Fortune said. “But you do realize what happens to bees after they’ve stung?”

“Shut up,” Volpina growled. “I don’t want to fight you.”

“Good.” Miss Fortune smiled. “But it’s not enough. By the time Chat and I are done with you, the citizens of Paris will be demanding you turn over your Miraculouses. After all, the only thing worse than a villain is a useless hero.”

Volpina turned to her, confused. “What do you mean? What are you going to do?”

Miss Fortune turned and threw her yo-yo high across the courtyard. It headed straight for the classmates gathered on the remaining walkway. The string looped over the railing, back to the ground, and wrapped around Rose’s ankle. Miss Fortune tugged. The string yanked poor Rose’s foot out from underneath her, and she fell hard to the floor. Her ankle dangled over the railing, and her shoe dropped to the floor below.

Miss Fortune looked back at Volpina. “By the time you could get to her, I could pull her over the edge. It’s only one story, but she’s so small. What would they all think if you let her get hurt?”

Volpina felt sick. “You—you wouldn’t do that. I know you. You wouldn’t hurt Rose. That’s not you, Marinette!”

Miss Fortune’s eyes glazed over slightly. She appeared confused, in a fog. The yo-yo loosened its grip, and Rose collapsed safely onto the walkway, resting in Juleka’s arms.

“I don’t understand,” Miss Fortune said softly. “You know—I wouldn’t—”

Suddenly, the fierce clarity returned to her gaze. “You won’t fight me today? Fine. You’ve still lost, and we will be back. Chat!”

Chat Blanc snapped his attention to her and landed on the ground beside her.

“It’s time to leave,” she said.

He frowned. “But I was just getting started.”

“Oh, kitty, you know there’s plenty of time to play with your prey,” Miss Fortune said, stepping towards him and placing her hand on his cheek. “But for now, it’s time to let them recover. The game’s more fun when they don’t know how to play.”

Chat nodded. He held Miss Fortune tight around her waist and leaped out of the school courtyard.

Queen Bee approached Volpina. “Do you have any idea what’s going on?”

“A little,” Volpina replied. “But we’ve got bigger issues right now.”

The school was a mess. Without a rush of ladybugs to fix everything, part of the walkway and the classrooms near it were destroyed. There were students, just _kids_ , laying in the rubble from where the platform had fallen. It looked like no one had been too badly injured, but once the focus of battle was gone, Bee and Volpina heard the screaming and crying of their classmates.

Queen Bee’s comb beeped. “We need to go,” she said. “I wish we could help them, but—we need to go.”

Volpina nodded. “I need to talk to you, anyways. We should have some time. The roof?”

*

“I know who Miss Fortune is,” Volpina blurted as soon as Queen Bee joined her on the top of the school.

“Duh,” Bee replied. “Ladybug.”

“I mean, I know who Ladybug is.”

“Oh.” Bee was quiet for just a moment before asking, “Who?”

“Her name’s Marinette,” Volpina replied. “She goes to school here, and she-”

“Marinette _Dupain-Cheng_?” Bee asked in disbelief. “What the hell? _She’s_ the one I’ve-” she cut herself off suddenly. “So, it’s Marinette. So what?”

“So, I’m friends with her outside of all this,” Volpina replied. “I think I broke through to her today. At least for a moment. She was going to hurt Rose so much worse—but Marinette’s still in there.”

“If Marinette is Ladybug, then who’s Chat?” Bee wondered. “Is it someone else we know?”

“We?”

Bee huffed and rolled her eyes. “Obviously. We both know Marinette, so we probably know Chat too. Actually, we probably know each other.”

“That’s another thing,” Volpina said. “Should we let each other know our identities? It would be a lot easier to deal with all this if we didn’t have to wait for an attack each time we needed to talk.”

Bee nodded. “You’re right, but—I’m really different outside the mask. I don’t have a lot of real friends, and there’s a good chance you know me and already don’t like me.”

“Yeah, well, I’m not everyone’s best friend either,” Volpina replied. “But we don’t have to be good friends to be good teammates. Protecting Paris and getting back Marinette and Chat is more important, right?”

Bee nodded. “Count of three?”

Together, they counted, “One—two—three.”

And then they both screamed.

“Okay, it’s kind of important that you’re _Chloe_!” Alya blurted. “You realize you’re the cause of half the akumas we deal with?”

“Better than fighting next to an annoying brat with terrible fashion taste!” Chloe shot back. “I mean, that scarf you’re wearing—” She cut herself off, and suddenly her voice softened. “That’s because of the cataclysm mark, isn’t it?”

Alya pulled the scarf tighter around her face and nodded. “It’s healing, but it’s still visible. I didn’t want people asking questions.”

“I’m sorry I said it was ugly.”

Alya looked at Chloe. The “mean girl” was staring back at her, true concern evident on her face. Alya wanted to say something rude, but she recognized that expression. She’d seen it on her teammate’s face a thousand times. “Whatever,” she finally said. “Maybe we can really be friends now?”

Chloe raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, no. I do still have a reputation to uphold. But I guess I can be a little nicer to you. And Marinette, once she’s back to normal.”

“All right, I guess it would be weird if we started hanging out all the time,” Alya agreed. “I can settle for nice. So, any idea how we can help Marinette and Chat?”

Chloe sighed, and looked out into the distance. “I have no idea.”


	4. Chapter 4

The next day, it seemed like everything had gone back to normal. Alya and Chloe wouldn’t speak in class, but were texting nearly constantly.

 **LadyBloggirl  
** so chat’s probably some guy in our class right? bc you me and marinette are all here

 **LaBelleChloe  
** yeah duh. good thing there’s only like 6 of them

 **LadyBloggirl  
** maybe Nathaniel? he likes pretending he’s a superhero right?

 **LaBelleChloe  
** alya.

 **LadyBloggirl  
**??

 **LaBelleChloe  
** it’s Adrien.

 **LadyBloggirl  
** how do you know?

 **LaBelleChloe  
** he and Marinette are the only ones who haven’t been akumatized

 **LaBelleChloe  
** you really didn’t figure that out?

 **LadyBloggirl**  
I

 **LadyBloggirl  
** shut up

 **LaBelleChloe  
** let’s go check out adriens house after school

 **LadyBloggirl  
** his dad would never let us in

 **LaBelleChloe**  
srsly???

 **LaBelleChloe  
** I’m his best friend

 **LadyBloggirl  
** really?

 **LaBelleChloe  
** yes, really. We were friends long before you came along

*

After classes ended that day, Alya took a very roundabout route to the Agreste Manor. The mansion wasn’t too far from the school, but she and Chloe had agreed—they wouldn’t be seen leaving the school together.

Alya was the one to press the intercom buzzer, but Chloe smiled for the camera and gave a small wave. The gate opened for them easily.

“Wow,” Alya said as they walked up the driveway, “I didn’t think Adrien’s dad liked any of his friends.”

“You get some privileges with adults when you’re the mayor’s daughter,” Chloe replied. “If Mr. Agreste was rude to me, I could call Daddy and have his whole business shut down.”

“How many people have you done that to?”

“Only a few,” she said. “Contrary to what you might think about me, I don’t _like_ ruining people’s lives for no reason. I can’t get mad at someone who has hundreds of people working for them, because then my temper would mean hundreds of people can’t support their families anymore.”

“That’s…way more insightful than I thought you would be,” Alya said slowly. “But also exactly what I expect from Bee. It’s weird knowing you’re the same person.”

“Yeah, and it’s super weird that someone as unfashionable and uncool as you is Volpina,” Chloe retorted, her defenses rising again. “Let’s just go find out if Adrien is Chat or not.”

When they reached the front door, they were greeted by Gabriel Agreste. “Chloe,” he said in what probably passed for a warm tone, “And…”

“Alya Cesaire.”

“Mlle Cesaire.” His usual stern look settled over his face. “Are you here to deliver Adrien his homework?”

The girls gave each other a quick glance, and Chloe nodded. “Yeah. We just wanted to drop it off personally and say hi to him.”

“Very well,” he replied. “Do not overstay your welcome. He is quite ill.”

“Of course not,” Alya said. “We just want him to get better.”

“Of course,” Gabriel agreed as he opened the door wider.

Chloe led Alya to Adrien’s room, and neither girl was surprised to find it empty. Alya was shocked at just how _big_ it was, but Chloe brushed it aside easily.

“Of course it’s big, Adrien wasn’t allowed any friends besides me for most of his life, but he got whatever he asked for,” Chloe said, as if this was simply common knowledge. She poked around his desk, and turned on his computer.

“Wow,” Alya said from behind her, “I guess I’m not the biggest Ladybug fan.”

“You never were,” Chloe shot back, but she smiled as she said it. “Damn, he changed his password.”

“Try ‘Ladybug’,” Alya suggested.

Chloe typed it in, and raised an eyebrow when it worked. “Seriously, Adrien? Obsession isn’t a good look on you.”

“Yeah, he’s had it bad for a while, according to Nino,” Alya said. “So, what are we looking for? It’s not like he’s going to have a file that says ‘I am Chat Noir’ or anything.”

Chloe clicked through a few folders. “He used to keep a journal on his computer. It’s probably hidden somewhere ridiculous—there!”

A word processor opened, revealing a file that said, clear as day, _How can I tell Ladybug that I’m Chat Noir?_

The girls stared at it for a moment, and then Alya said, “We really need to talk to him about subtlety.”

*

They left the Agreste manor, promising Gabriel that Adrien was doing well and was working hard on his homework. As they walked to a nearby café, Alya wondered, “Doesn’t he know that his son isn’t actually there?”

“Probably not,” Chloe replied. “Gabriel doesn’t actually talk to him that often, he’s probably getting his bodyguard to cover him.”

“The life of rich people.” Alya sighed and held open the door of the café for Chloe. “Anyways, now that we know who they are, what do we do to get them back to normal?”

“I have an idea,” Chloe said. “It’s…it’s a little cheesy, but will you listen?”

Alya nodded. “You’ve had some really good ideas before. I trust you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this one took a while! depression kicked my ass and wasn't letting me write well for a bit. I think it's coming around, though, so the next part shouldn't be as long a wait.

**Author's Note:**

> This was supposed to be a simple one-shot about friendship but then it just kept growing as I plotted it out. I've never read other existing Chat Blanc or Miss Fortune fanfics, so if my interpretation seems similar to anything, it's coincidental. Also as I am writing this before S2 comes out, a lot of what I come up with in terms of Volpina and Bee are my own ideas. I take what I can from spoilers to make it as canon-compliant as possible, but I can't see the future.
> 
> Feel free to hit me up on Tumblr at ghostlyhamburger


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